folk albums
Album Review: Richard Thompson – Acoustic Rarities
The new Richard Thompson album, Acoustic Rarities, arrives barely two short months after the release of its sibling, Acoustic Classics Vol II, and is released both separately, and as a bonus disc to its predecessor. Where Acoustic Classics Vol II revisited well loved numbers from Thompson’s songbook, Acoustic Rarities takes the opportunity to compliment and …
Album Review: Siobhan Wilson – There Are No Saints
Siobhan Wilson provides the heavenly soundtrack to heartbreak and healing with her second album ‘There Are No Saints’. After returning to Scotland from Paris five years ago, Siobhan Wilson moved from Elgin to Glasgow and used her background in classical music and French jazz to stunning effect. Her second album ‘There Are No Saints’ (out …
Album Review: tunnel traffic – MEESH
Adam Hachey writes under the name tunnel traffic but we’ve met him before playing as part of a band called Meesh – enthusiastically reviewed by Backseat Mafia a few years back (sadly unavailable on the site at the moment). tunnel traffic have now released an album entitled MEESH just to confuse things, but one thing …
Album Review : Mac Demarco’s ‘This Old Dog’
Mac Demarco is a hard one to put your finger on. On his last two albums 2 and Salad Days there was a definitely this vibe of a true blue singer/songwriter. He could put together these breezy, carefree tunes that brought to mind Harry Nilsson, Jonathan Richman, and even Cat Stevens. But there was this …
Album Review: Laura Marling – Semper Femina
By Pete Wilding It bears reminding ourselves – however disconcerting it might be – that Laura Marling has just turned 27. Nine years of unique, personal creativity on a broad canvas have passed since the release of Alas, I Cannot Swim. Critics have always been quick to admire Marling’s maturity, both in song and in …
Album Review: Alasdair Roberts – Pangs
Authenticity is one of the great over-rated qualities in music. But there’s no harm in a bit of study and knowledge. Alasdair Roberts’ route into recording might have been through passing a tape to Will Oldham, but that doesn’t stop him having a more traditional edge than many of his contemporaries and collaborators. Recorded with …
Album Review: Julian Cope – Drunken Songs
Few artists can claim to have ploughed such a rich and bizarre furrow as Julian Cope. From scouse-pop Smash Hits pin-up, calling at Scott walker acid casualty, via stone(d) circle antiquarian, Krautrock stoner rocker, and ending up as some kind of grizzled shamanic Norse god biker Jim Morrison. His various guises have oft confounded loyal …
Album review: Phat Bollard – Brew for the Barrowman
For those not in the know Phat Bollard are a Cornish folk band that spend their days busking on the streets, going from city to city. They’re more at home playing on the streets than being in a studio or playing actual gigs. The result of a successful crowd funding campaign Brew for the Barrowman …
Album Review: Nadine Khouri – The Salted Air
Nadine Khouri The Salted Air There is a delicate quality to Nadine Khouri’s voice when you are first introduced to her; a hushed, bewitching quality that is equally earnest as it is powerful. It’s a contradiction to read, that I am well aware, but it is such a juxtaposition which one would believe lead previous …
Album Review: Modern Studies – Swell To Great
It’s not that we ignored it – Its just that we completely missed September’s release of Modern Studies album Swell to Great, and as Matt H muses – more’s the pity. Even in this day and age, with bands increasingly self-releasing their stuff online and at gigs, there’s still a place for a record labels. …